India signals semiconductor push as PM Modi opens Micron’s facility

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated Micron Technology’s semiconductor plant at Sanand in Gujarat and said that after being known for its strength in software, the country is “firmly establishing its identity” in the hardware sector too.

The inauguration of the US-based company’s ATMP (Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging) plant — the first such facility in the country — reflects a deep partnership between India and the United States, he said.

“The message has reached the world loud and clear: India is capable, India is competitive and India is committed,” Modi said.

India’s message for global investors is “India is ready, India is reliable, and India delivers,” and both a dynamic market and global opportunities await investors in the country, the prime minister added.

“India, long known for its software strength, is now firmly establishing its identity in the hardware sector as well,” he said.

The prime minister said the event is a testament to the strong cooperation and collaboration between India and the US, especially in the areas of AI and chip technologies where the partnership between the two countries is very important.

“The world witnessed a period of industrial revolution throughout the 20th century. During that time, countries that were ahead in factories, machines, and mass production made rapid progress. But this is the century of the AI revolution, and semiconductors are the bridge to this change. The tiny chip is the medium connecting both the industrial revolution and the AI revolution,” he said.

“If oil was the regulator of the last century, the microchip will be the regulator of this century. With this thought in mind, India decided to move forward rapidly in the semiconductor sector,” Modi said, noting that the country announced its Semiconductor Mission at a time when the world was battling COVID.

“During the pandemic, everything felt like it was falling apart, but the seeds we planted with conviction are now growing and bearing fruits,” the PM further said.

India is rapidly becoming an integral part of the global semiconductor value chain, and the entire world wants to secure the supply chain of both these technologies for a better future for humanity, he said.

The two largest democracies — India and the US — are continuously striving for this, the prime minister stated, adding that their collective effort will also make the global supply chain of critical minerals more secure and reliable.

His government has so far approved 10 projects under the Semicon India programme, and besides the Micron plant, three more projects are also going to start production very soon, he added.

“The semiconductor ecosystem we are building is not limited to any one region, it is pan-India,” the PM said, adding that work has started in projects located in Noida (Uttar Pradesh), Assam, Odisha and Punjab.

The semiconductor ecosystem is not just about a single factory and India is focusing on the entire value chain, Modi said.

“India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 was announced in this budget. Its objective is the same: as production increases, demand for material components and services in India will also increase. This is the biggest opportunity,” he said.

The PM said another advantage for India is its significant manufacturing ambitions. “India has a large population that is becoming first-time users of gadgets. Whether it is electronics, automobiles, or other technologies, demand in India is constantly growing,” he said, highlighting the exponential growth of electronics production and exports in the last 11 years.

As electronic component manufacturing expands, domestic demand for semiconductors will also grow, Modi said, adding that both a dynamic market and global opportunities await investors in India.

The new plant will create a new ecosystem at Sanand, the prime minister said.

“When a major automotive company arrived here, an entire ecosystem developed with it,” he said, in apparent reference to the setting up of TATA Nano factory years ago.

“This pioneering facility is also poised to spawn a new ecosystem. In the future, Sanand will write a new chapter of its success in the semiconductor sector,” he said.

The ATMP facility will manufacture SSD (Solid State Drive) storage devices as well as RAM type DRAM and NAND products, stated a government release. The company has invested Rs 22,516 crore for its Sanand plant, the release added.